This file is a collection of various messages having a
common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer
networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a
collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on
the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having
to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and
sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs
were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my
viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the
individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have
written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at
this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit
to the originator(s).

prefer the mountain on the arms to the pale, but times
change, I suppose.

"Baron Under the Mountain" is still used as a
title for the King of the

Midrealm. At the Better War Through Archery event in
January, I heard the

heralds announce the Queen as, among a half-dozen other
titles, "Baroness Under

the Mountain", so I suppose the tradition has still
stuck.

Azrael Morgenstern

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: DDFr at Midway.UChicago.edu (David Friedman)

Subject: Re: Longest-active SCA members

Organization: University of Chicago Law School

Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 04:15:40 GMT

In article <1995Jun24.180043 at blah.bsuvc.bsu.edu>,

morgenstern at blah.bsuvc.bsu.edu (The Morgenstern Under
the Mountain) wrote:

Timothy A. McDaniel writes:

> I dimly recall reading a history of the early days of
the Midrealm in

> which "the Barony under the Mountain" was
mentioned as a very early

> name for the Middle. The arms had a dragon flying
about a mountain,

> and the later Middle arms changed the mountain into a
pale. However,

> I don't have the source to hand, so this is just an
assertion.

It was the principality under the mountain, to the best of
my memory and

belief. I do not remember any such banner. Wilmot
"mountain" is where the

first (and last) coronet tourney was held.

--

David/Cariadoc

DDFr at Midway.UChicago.Edu

From: Pat McGregor <PatriciaX_O_McGregor at
ccm.fm.intel.com>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Teens in the SCA???

Date: 29 Sep 1995 16:45:51 GMT

Organization: Intel IT Tech Pubs

Bill McNutt <McNutt at gateway.ce.utk.edu> wrote:

>

>Like I said, I think that five years old is premature.
I'm not so sure >about 15, and I'm SURE about 17.

>

>I think we need to rethink our national policy.

>

I was around when Sir Alen did a great deal of research
through his law

firm about these sorts of laws, and I read his report (not
officially

an "opinion") carefully. This was in the
1984-ish time frame, give or

take a year or so.

One of the problems was a great number of states who
defined child abuse

so narrowly (and required reporting by hospitals,
physicians, etc)

that an adult bruising a minor (even if that minor was 17)
as child

abuse. Certainly the Middle didn't want to risk it, and
the Board,

neither.

We probably need to have a similar survey done today.

siobhan

From: normteck at frontiernet.net at frontiernet.net

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: SCA Mythology part 3

Date: 21 Feb 1996 02:50:54 GMT

Organization: Frontier Internet Access

>: That evening at court, Hugo also received a
'Dragon's tooth', the

>: Midrealms highest fighting award for his feat. Not
to mention that he

>: made it to the quarter finals in his first coronet.

>The Mid has always been "funny" about
awards. I know a guy who got his

>lordship for "writing" a filk, "Takin
Care of Kingdom."

Baron Stephen Ironhand, at that time from the Mid,
received the order of the

Dragon's Breath for his enthusiastic rendition of Happy
Birthday, sung (if you're crazy enough to call it that) to the tune of the
William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger theme).

The scroll was done in Hatchet Hand by (since made Master)
Pavel Iosovitch. I

understand Pavel destroyed 19 nibs making the scroll which
couldn't be viewed

by women passing water in our bathroom, but the men could
see it while

performing the same task.

If anyone can add to this one I'm sure the story could
only improve.

Raphael Tempovaloroso, OGS, OCL

Thescorre, Regnum Orientalis

From: ianengle at freenet.columbus.oh.us (Ian Engle)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Middle broke away?

Date: 3 Jul 1996 10:58:19 -0400

Organization: The Greater Columbus FreeNet

Hmm.

Well, as Cariadoc noted and as is recorded in
Orlando Ambrosius'

History of the Middle Kingdom, there was a period of some
six months when

we were a "principality" of the East. But then
things were much looser in

those days. We were never a principality in the
"modern" sense of the word.

--Sion

Subject: Re: ANST - Principality petitions/seccession war

Date: Fri, 20 Feb 98 14:42:19 MST

From: "Galen W. Bevel" <galenbv at
ix.netcom.com>

To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG

Scot Eddy wrote:

............................Coronation has a battle and
the Prince

> "banishes" the old King and steps up. He then
chooses a champion from

> those that distiguished themselves in the battle.
Lots of persona

> play, a medieval reality (overthrowing the King) and
lots of fun.

>

> Again no dishonor to Ansteorra is meant, just a cool
stepping up idea.

>

> Jovian Skleros

> Ansteorran

Actually, this sort of thing has been done in the past in
other

Kingdoms, tho' it isn't our custom. Let me see if I can
get a great

story straight as it was related to me.

When Edmund first stepped up as King of the Middle, he
wanted a cool

Coronation. Having met and been befriended by Edmund (and
my self, from

Ansteorra as fate would have it)at Gulf Wars V, Bjorn,
King of the East

thought it would be fun to show up at Edmunds Coronation.
He marched in

with several of his knights and claimed that they were
there to

"protect" the Middle throne during the
interegnum, following the recent

demise of the Middle soveriegn. Of course, this
interegnum might end up

lasting several years. Edmund, totally caught off guard,
valiantly

proclaimed his right to the throne and he and the knights
of the Middle

went off to seek their armor and trounce these invading
Easterners. A

royal melee (literally) ensued, with Edmund of course
coming out

victorius and going on to ascend the Mid-Realm throne.
Bjorn told me at

the 30year Celebration that at one time during the battle,
the knights

got so enthusiastic about the battle that they left Edmund
standing

alone, beside Bjorn...and two or three Eastern knights.
Bjorn said it

was almost more temptation than he could handle, but he
was good and

went off to join his other knights in battle, and left the
Middle its

Crown Prince.

I make no claims for the veracity of this story, as I am
telling it from

memory after several years, and of course feel the need
for a bit of

poetic license to make it more enjoyable, but any
variations from the

basic truth are accidents and entirely the fault of my
leaky memory. In

such a case..my apologies to both Edmund and Bjorn.

Graf Galen K.

Subject: Re: BG - principalities else where..

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 98 11:17:06 MST

From:
dca1-hub1.news.digex.net!digex!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!204.238.120.130!news-feeds.jump.net!jumpnet.com!not-for-mail
at at dca1-feed1.news.digex.net

To: bryn-gwlad at Ansteorra.ORG

Hello, this is Raito.

I'd like to comment on Nicolaa de Bracton's message on
Ealdomere as I was living

in the Middle Kingdom at the time all this happened.

Much has been deleted from the original.

> > I can tell you a little why we chose that route.
I think it was in the back

> > of the mind of the first group members up here
to someday have a Northern

> > Kingdom. Round about 1986 or so, we decided to
select a regional

> > champion--this is the route Calontir had taken
towards becoming a kingdom

> > some years before. But things had changed; the
Middle Kingdom decided that

> > regions could not have champions or even names.
This was decided without

> > consulting us here in Ealdormere, so we felt
crushed. However, two years

> > later, we became a Crown Principality (that's a
principality in name, but

> > without Royalty) and about 2 1/2 years after
that, in 1990, we advanced to

> > full Principality status. Last January, we were
approved to advance to

> > Kingdom status, which we will do next October.

The Regional Debacle was an example of the wrong (though
very Middle) reaction

to a problem. As I understand, the reason Regions (capital
R) were banned was

because some clueless person thought that they were more
than they were, and

was demanding status based on it. Instead of quietly
dragging said individual

into a corner and beating some sense into them, the Middle
made a Law (which

is their tendency. If you've been around long enough, you
know which laws were

made as a result of whose troubles). This led to the age
of 'independently

administered geographical areas'. Later, there were
regions again.

> > One of the driving reasons why we became a
Principality was the size of the

> > Middle Kingdom. It's huge. We also thought we
had a somewhat different

> > of smaller groups instead of fewer huge groups).
We also, as I mentioned,

> > wanted to see our own folks as Royalty--the King
and Queen were people we

> > saw once a reign, if we were lucky, at that
point.

In fact, the Middle Kingdom is so big that it makes some
of the arguments about

Principalities in Ansteorra a bit amusing to me. It still
stretches from Manitoba to Kentucky. Those of you who think that Ansteorra is
too big should try getting to Winnipeg from anywhere. Actually, Castel Rouge
(Winnipeg) was placed into the Principality of Northshield against its will.

Having lived through the creation of 3 princilaplities in
the Middle (Calontir,

Ealdomere, and Northshield), I can say that the successful
ones had some

important items in common. They were already acting like
Principalities, and

had very active desire to become Principalities. In those
cases, it was not

done to ease any burden on the Kingdom, and had nothing to
do with the Kingdom.

They already had their own culture. The less successful
one did not have these

items. I had visited all 3 while they were Principalities.
It was obvious to me

which had been done for the right reasons, and which for
the wrong.

The largest problem that I have seen with the formation of
a Principality is

the politics. I have seen persons, both for and against,
lie outright to

advance their causes. Calling it to their attention didn't
make me very

popular. I have had my honor personally called into
question because of the

question of Principality (semi-quote 'Obviously Raito will
rhino his way

through the coronet so that he can dissolve the
Principality because he

voted no on the ballot' [as if the Prince can dissolve
it]). I have had to put

up with persons discussing the 'loyalty' of others. I'd
rather not go

through that again.

Kitakaze Tatsu Raito

Neil Gilmore

npg at wesson.com

From:
"Drew Nicholson" <anicholson16 at comcast.net>

Newsgroups:
rec.org.sca

Subject:
Re: Baby Barons

Date:
Sun, 23 May 2004 21:17:08 -0500

"Terri/Hrothny"
<nothingbutadame at inthe.sca.org> wrote

>
I heard a rumour this weekend that some King and Queen had created Court

>
Barons of their three children - one a baby in diapers. Surely this is just

>
a silly rumour? The folks mentioning it (as so often happens with stupid

>
Urban Legends) didn't know which Kingdom it "happened in just this
month".

>
I can't imagine that anyone would be that cavalier with honour awards but

>
figured that if anyone would know the truth of how the rumour got started,

>
it'd be someone here.

>
Where is this story coming from?

Midrealm.
Yes, it did indeed happen. While there have been varied

reactions
to this within the kingdom, the general consensus is that They are

the
King and Queen, and have the right to bestow this most personal of

awards
upon anyone they see fit. The award/position of Court Baron is one

that
has highly varying "standards" (at least in the MidRealm), and that

might
be taken into account when reacting to these awards.

Below
are the words of Their Majesties Midrealm.

>
"It is truth that We made unto Our sons Barons of the Court. There are
many

>
other rumors that are not true but such is the burden of Royalty. We

>
do not let such base gossip darken Our days. Many have cheered at Our

>
boldness and others have criticized Our giving these and other

>
awards to children.

>
To this We simply say that children are just as important a part of the SCA as

>
adults. Often they work as hard or harder than the adults and their service

>
is in need of recognition. And if an individual would be so selfish as to

>
deny the recognition of another then they should examine their actions

>
and heart. For by stating their selfish nature it has shown that Our

>
actions in rewarding children and adults alike are good and just. If you

>
hear dissent please pass on Our words to them or have them seek Us out and

>
have them voice their displeasure to Us and We shall tell them in person.

>

>
We had the courage to do it publicly in the highest profile event and at the

>
beginning of the reign so that all may see. We leave people to judge Us as

>
they like. No matter if they judge Us good or bad We will lead and do what

>
We think is right.

>

>
King Felix

>
trm at midrealm.org"

I
suggest that if you have issues with this, you simply contact them.

--

Purple

From:
"Anthony J. Bryant" <ajbryant_NOSPAM at indiana.edu>

Newsgroups:
rec.org.sca

Subject:
Re: Baby Barons

Date:
Tue, 25 May 2004 11:53:45 -0500

Organization:
Indiana University

Okay.
I'm a court baron. I used to be Baron of the Far West. But that was ages

ago,
in another kingdom.

People
may ask "What is your Laurel for?" -- but I've never heard anyone ask

"what
is your court baronage for?"

Court
baronies are, for good or ill, one of the few really totally discretionary

awards
the Crown can make. There are official standards for just about

everything
else. The Crown *can* ignore those standards, if they wish, of

course,
and elevate whom they will -- but the fact is, there are standards.

There
is no such standard for the Court Barony. The Crown can give it for

exemplary
and long service for which no other award seems suitable; the Crown

can
give it for a retirement "job well done" (esp. to stepping-down
baronial

coronets);
the Crown can even capriciously give it to someone for exemplary acts

of
friendship. Any and all of these are, in fact, historically viable reasons

for
making someone a great lord or baron.

Kings
may do as they will, as long as they don't violate the Laws.

No
laws have been broken.

Had
I been asked, I would have advised against it -- but Their Majesties are my

King
and Queen, my Liege lords, and I am their subject and a loyal peer. Though

I
would have advised against it, I will support them in what they have done as

they
have not done anything illegal, immoral, indecent, or improper.

They
have made personal decisions about personal awards which, according to our

Laws,
is theirs to give as they will. And to me, that is an end to it.

> >skeleton, I weighed in at 140 pounds (I'm 6'
tall), so I wasn't any

> >more injured than a small bruise to my ribs. I
was able to emerge

> >laughing at the good natured rough housing...

> >On the other hand, it was quickly decided that
that was the very

> >reason Clench a Wench was outlawed, and the game
was immediately

> >disbanded.

>

> jk-

Clench a Wench was outlawed in the Middle Kingdom ...
oh... it was

before Calontir was even a principality, I'm not even sure
Calontir

was named at that time... uhm... it would have been XIV or
there

abouts, I think.

Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 18:53:00 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Midrealm News regarding royalty OT OP

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at
lists.ansteorra.org>

News from Midrealm Lists today-- Johnnae

Posted today on LegioDraconis.com:

To to the populace of the Middle Kingdom, We write this
missive with a

heavy heart. As of last night the BOD has terminated our
reign. During

the period when Tessa was recovering from her shattered
elbow and

surgery, we had a hard time juggling personal life and SCA
life. Our

membership renewal was lost in the mail and by the time we
realized it,

our membership had lapsed for 3 days. According to
Corpora, that leads to

an automatic termination. We are very sorry for any hurt
or pain this

may cause to the populace of the Middle Kingdom.

Our kingdom is the best in the Knowne World due to it's
populace. We

appreciate the support that we were given. It was truly
incredible. We

hope that everyone will give the same support to our
successors no

matter who they might be.

Tessa & Lutr

From: Reed Harrig

Date: Sat 17 May 2008 10:39:20 AM EDT

It is with absolutely no joy that I find myself Regent of
the Middle

Kingdom. Her Grace Aislinn will be assisting me in those
duties.

While this is a very unusual situation, it does will not
require vast

changes to the day to day operation of the Kingdom.

We already have a Crown Tourney scheduled to take place on
Sunday May 25th.

The format and manor of the tourney will be the same as
every other Crown

Tourney. The only difference will be that on that day the
winner will be

Crowned Sovereign and the gentle they fought for will be
Crowned Consult.

The new King and Queen will serve for the duration of the
normal summer

reign. At a time and place to be determained later this
summer, another

Crown tourney will be held to choose the Heirs who will
then step up in

September.

If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact Duchess

Aislinn or myself.

With a bit of hard work and determination, the good works
of Lutr and Tessa

need not be wasted.

In Service,

Palymar

Midrealm Regent

Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 23:25:18 -0400

From: chawkswrth at aol.com

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Midrealm News regarding royalty
OT OP

To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

This is the exact letter as it was posted on the
Livejournal SCA List;

Greetings unto the Noble Populace of the Midrealm from
Duke Palymar of the Two Baronies, Regent of the Midrealm,

In the past few days, we have witnessed many fine examples
noblesse oblige, as people have lent their voice in support of friend and
Kingdom. In an effort to ensure the succession of the Royal lineage, and with
support of the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc., an ad hoc Crown tournament
will be held on Sunday, May 26, at 10 am., prior to the already published and
announced tournament.

This tournament will be open to Sir Lutr Ulfskjald and
those combatants and consorts who are found to be acceptable to the Regent.

Following the conclusion of this tournament, the victor will
immediately be Crowned King and Queen of the Midrealm and the previously
advertised Crown tournament will commence as scheduled.

Complete details will be posted on the Crown Tourney
website in the near future.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding during
this unprecedented occasion in the Midrealm,

In Service,

Duke Palymar of the Two Baronies

Regent of the Midrealm

Kudos to His Grace for a most equitable solution to a
horrid, sticky question. Remember-the rules are there for a purpose. The BOD
MUST uphold what they, themselves have passed. Whether that law is right or
wrong, is moot.

Let us hope that Right does indeed prevail at what is
truly going to be a Crown Tournament.

Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 03:08:49 -0500

From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Midrealm News regarding royalty
OT OP

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at
lists.ansteorra.org>

On another list I recieved info that because of several
past incidences the

BOD can not be flexible. Apparently all it takes is a few
twerps to ruin it

for others and thus Lutr and Tessa can not appeal. :(

-----Original Message-----

This is unconscionable. I can't believe that we are so
hidebound by rules

that we can't take into account something of this nature.
Surely they will

appeal. While I haven't had the privilege of meeting
them, I'm sure that

there are many in the Middle who would support an appeal
of this decision.

Kiri

Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 12:27:01 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Midrealm Crown for the Summer Reign

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at
lists.ansteorra.org>

I'll post this since I've been asked what was happening.

Johnnae (at home in Michigan)

<<< Courtesy of the Middlebridge

Dag and Lutr fought the first of their two-out-of-three.
Lutr won, and

they went off to change arms.

Lutr returns to find Dag handing his helm and sword to the
marshals.

Dag then makes a speech about how Lutr has fought
Chivalrously and

bested, in true Chivalric manner, all comers, and Dag
acceeded the

Tourney to Lutr. The Marshals had to come and help Lutr
stand down, as

he was too stunned to move. The Hall has gone wild.

Dag offered both his sword and chain to Lutr, who asked
that the chain

be given to Tessa. Tessa took the chain, then returned it
to Dag.

And that's the way we play in the Middle. Hoobah to our
once and Future

King and Queen, Lutr and Tessa!

With Joy at this reporting.

Shlomo K

Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 22:33:18 -0400

From: rattkitten <rattkitten at bellsouth.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Coronation of Lutr and Tessa

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at
lists.ansteorra.org>

I thought someone might get a bang out of this... this was
emailed out

to a lot of Atlantian email lists...

This is NOT MY WORK!!!!!!!!! It belongs to Lord Jonathan
Blackbow.

Nichola

------

So there's a poetry competition in Windmaster's Hill's
next event, and

the theme is:

Poetry contest!

Baron James of Middle Aston, Poetia Atlantia, is
sponsoring a poetry

contest. The virtues highlighted at the Pas are Chivalry,
Prowess,

Countenance, and Magnificence. Create verse that
encompasses and extols

one or more of these virtues. Instill courage in the
hearts of fighters

or honor those who idealize these virtues. Documentation
is encouraged.

I didn't have an entry. I have to be inspired to write.

Then I watched the youtube video of Duke Dag at Lutr's
Crown victory and

the rest was easy.

Casey Hits it Out of the Park

(a poem in honor of Duke Dag, King Lutr,

and the Adversity that made their Light

Shine that much more Brightly

In a Darkened World)

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Middle King that day

Tess's elbow, broke; they'd done their best, but mail was
delayed

and the BoD, they did their usual thing, t's dotted and
i's crossed;

said "Lutr, buddy, the rules is the rules, so face
it, bud, you've lost."

Now Lutr's a right standup guy, and took it with good
grace

"Let's face it, folks, we screwed the pooch, and now
we've got to face

the facts that are: our reign's been shot, and now we've
got to fix

the mess that's left, and then go back to hitting each
other with sticks."

But the last guy that screwed the pooch, you say, I can't
remember his name

got banned from fighting Crown for years for doing just
the same

So the Middle was in a mess, no doubt, names called and
fingers pointing

to champion their special cause: the King of next
anointing.

So about this time - we'll never know why - the BoD saw
what they'd caused

a simple rule, so easy to fix, and yet they never paused

to think "hey, maybe we should change this rule
before it causes grief

and pain and angst and angry words and problems past belief."

We're sure they did their best by us, the members of their
club

We're sure this rule will soon be fixed, before the next
king's dubbed

But meantime the thought that comes back down is
"Palymar's the judge

of fixing this as best he can, to clear away the
sludge."

At least four times did Lutr fight that day to win his
Crown

But one stands forth; the last he fought, 'gainst a man of
great renown

Duke Dag did strive in that last of rounds for many a
mighty blow

But all for naught, or so it seemed, since Lutr laid him
low

Then Dag arose, and said the words that some of you have
heard

he spoke of oaths, and kings, and law, and keeping of
one's word

"the law's been met, I'll fight no more," and he
said it with such force,

the roar of approval from the crowd meant the deed was
done, of course.

And Lutr and Tessa were crowned again, and many hearts
were glad,

And while were sure that some hearts weren't; know what?
that's just too

bad. So, Lutr and Tessa are King and Queen, and great! But
my words mark: